Stick A Fork In It...

..Cuz it's done! And we are lovin' it...both the color, the squeaky clean floor (I might serve dinner on it tonight...if I was to cook, that is!), and being done with the project.

I am two and a half days into the fourteen of the antibiotic regimen for Phoebe. So far she (and I) have done pretty well. Only 23 doses to go.

Here is the progress on the bebe sockee.

And here is the progress on the Forest Canopy Shawl.

Now I think I will go take a hot soak.

Frazzled…

At the vet’s last night, we found nothing definitive about Phoebe. Well, except that she is a lackluster groomer, but that is nothing new, and she needs dental work. I feel like a mother whose child has gone to the doctor with dirty, matted hair, and bad teeth. On the positive, she was well-behaved. After blood work comes back tomorrow, maybe something there be more direction. On the positive side, there was nothing grossly wrong showing up in the examination, and she looks pretty healthy for a 14 year old. We will be out some bucks, no doubt, for the teeth, and she will be out some teeth for the money.

We enjoyed a meal with the daughters at an eatery that celebrates the birthdays of their patrons with much singing and clapping. This happened about three or four times around the place during the course of our meal. Each time, Grandbebe Girl joined in with clapping her little hands. Icing on our cake! I figured out the Ravelry progress bar today. I have some updating to do on my notebook there. I have some photos of WIPS and yarn and fiber to take and to upload and to label. I definitely need to get some more knitting on the cuff of the sock before tomorrow’s lesson, too.
And I must be prepped for Friday’s board meeting tonight, as there won’t be time tomorrow, after the hair appointment and eating out….again. Hopefully Saturday, Wonderful Guy and I will finish the kitchen. It’s another of those busy weeks of which I used to have so many. Now that my life is more in order, I fear my resistance to them is low and the busy-ness of it all wears me out so much faster. Either that, or I am just plain old.
I would rather more enjoy some sitting and knitting, or spinning.

(The last couple of pictures, my color is a little off. It is more the color of the first photos.)

Sunday scrubbing, Monday’s field trip (and other stuff)

I am still stiff, sore, and achey, darn near crippled. On my hands and knees, with brush and Mr. Clean, I proceeded to scrub the kitchen floor for most of the day Sunday. I was determined to get all the grime and grit out of the little pores, divots, and dips. I didn’t complete the entire floor, but when it is done, I will search for a good sealant. A thirteen year old no-wax vinyl floor is showing it’s age. Wonderful Guy completed another wall of the kitchen, and we have left only the walls with cabinets and counters. As it dried, we were very pleased. The color is just as we imagined. When the brick-a-brack and other doo-dads went back on the walls, we continued with our smiling. I like it a lot…

The trip to the Brown Sheep Mill was very educational, and very enjoyable. First, I learned that it isn’t about ‘brown sheep’, but about Mr. and Mrs. Brown who started the mill! There were 26 of us who made the trek from Fort Collins to Miller, Nebraska, and the weather made a beautiful day for a road trip. The tour of the facility was fascinating from an industrial point of view. The store afforded much opportunity for frugal purchasing of wonderful yarn. I was prudent. I bought some ‘waste’ roving with which I may try my hand at dyeing. I also bought some sock yarn, enough for three adult pair, and one pair for Grandbebe Girl. Prudent, indeed, but still a bundle of wonderfulness! It’s only a 2 ½ hour trip from Fort Collins, just a bit further than Denver, when one considers, and much less traffic. Spinning Co-Worker went with me, and we were joined in Scooby Two by two other interesting and talented women.

Knitting progresses on the sock cuff for my class. I like the way the yarn is knitting up, appearance wise, but because of the stretchiness, I am still getting some gappiness where I switch from one needle to the other. At least, with magic loop, I have reduced those loose stitches from 4 to 2, a 50% reduction. Progress!

We are having dinner with Youngest Daughter (& family), and Middle Daughter (& friend), tonight…providing I have an uneventful trip to the vet with Phoebe. She is having some issues that require professional attention. Keeping the good thoughts that it isn’t serious.

And I finished ‘Mists of Avalon’.

P.S. I am posting this late. I was hoping to add photos. Perhaps exciting pix will follow later today.

Another Spontaneous Saturday...

First, about the new photo up there. It is not blooming right now in my yard, nor do I expect it this year, short of a miracle. It is one of my most favorite little yard friends, though. Bloodroot,or Sanguinaria canadensis, was one of the first little green shoots and flowers I saw in my yard each spring. I first purchased them at the Missouri Wild Flowers nursery simply because I liked the name and the history. It was used by native people for medicinal purposes and as a dye. I have used it for neither, except, I suppose for the cheering it brings to me when I saw it's bright flowers after the winter. Bloodroot was one of the plant I brought with me when I moved to Colorado, being fairly confident it would not become an invasive nuisance. I babied it tenderly, and added to my system occasionally with expensive purchases from local nurseries. These babies never go on clearance! And when I moved in with Wonderful Guy, I brought my root system with me. I had my bloodroot growing in a perfect place and they liked it very much, spreading out and multiplying to a healthy stand. I was one proud momma....until last spring, when I had nary a leaf. I have no idea what happened. It is a must have plant for me, though, and I tried to buy locally and online and couldn't find it last year anywhere I looked. I will try again to find it this year.

And now for something completely different... I woke to the smell of coffee yesterday. Wonderful Guy made it downstairs before me. Upon his return upstairs, he remarked that I wasn't going to like what I was going to find downstairs. I had finished off plying a small amount of roving Friday night, and foolishly left it laying on the floor when we turned out the lights. The Cat Who Would Be Queen loves her some fresh plied yarn....ah well. Done is done, and my lesson learned.
After breakfast with Grandbebe Girl and Her Parents, which was very enjoyable, indeed, Wonderful Guy and I braved the chilly late winter temps, and took Best Dog Ever for a walk around City Park Lake. We talked about what we should do the rest of the day. We had made a purchase of paint for the kitchen some time ago. With the promise of nicer weather in the future, and wanting to enjoy it, we thought it would be prudent to get the kitchen painted. Not only would it be done, but we could be enjoying it...and figure out if we like what we picked out for a color. It is a very dramatic change.




We are liking it, especially after the second coat. I think once the valances are back up and the room put back together, we will enjoy even more. Wonderful Guy and I really have fun together with our home projects.
Along with more painting today, there will be cleaning and rearranging and reorganizing. All in all, a busy day ahead, and I need to get to it.

Weekend Accomplishments

Sunday, we bought paint for the kitchen. Cabin Red. I hope it works as well as the colors I picked for the front room and office. Interior décor/picking out colors, etc. is not something I have a lot of confidence in my ability. The home improvement project Wonderful Guy and I carried out on the office/front room last fall turned out very nice. There is, I fear, a danger of being lulled into a false sense of…ability. We shall see how the Cabin Red kitchen works. Dearest Sister says if it doesn’t work, one can always repaint. I suppose that is true, but I prefer it to just work for me the first time!

Friday, after work, Young Co-Worker and I ventured into the countryside and found a fiber processing barn, way out in the yonder. We each made a purchase of lovely hand dyed wool roving. Looky at what I bought!

I also spent lots of time spinning in the evenings, in front of the fire, with the spindle. (The days were warm and lovely, but when the sun went down, so did the temperatures.) This is single ply. I have some more white merino on the wheel at the lys that I believe I will combine with this little yarn cake. Then, I am thinking about plying the white merino with this brown alpaca. Looking forward to spinning practice tomorrow night.

Sugar ‘n Cream cotton yarn was on sale. Bought five skeins of the variegated. Wonderful Guy, bless his heart, doesn’t understand that, I don’t think. Just one of those things I learned from Momma. When it's on sale, I gotta' buy it. I thought I did well only buying five.

At a bookstore outlet, I found Thirteen Moons, by Charles Frazier for $6, and a couple of journals for cheapy cheapy. Can’t ever have too many journals, I say. No knitting books to note, or to buy.

While I was at the bookstore outlet, Wonderful Guy was at the kitchen outlet. He’s been shopping for pressure cookers lately. I have a gi-nourmous one I used back in the day for canning. Still have it, even if I haven’t canned in 2 plus decades. (Hey! I might again eventually….someday….) He found one there he liked for a price he liked. I am thinking sometime this week I might be treated to something pressure-cooked!

It was great to get out this weekend. We walked the dog, and I wore only a hoodie over my turtleneck. Very nice to run around in a sweatshirt instead of bundled up in gloves, hat, scarf, and buttoned-up-to-the-neck-coat. It’s still January, and cooler weather with snow possibly, is on it’s way, but the break was nice.